For a gal who doesn’t feel like she has any time to scrapbook, I sure have a large pile accumulating of finished pages. All of which need to find their way into the appropriate albums…
I finally came across good advice for how to photograph layouts, since I don’t have a big enough scanner for the 12x12 pages – tape them on a wall that has indirect, natural light (making sure not to cast a shadow on the layout), take a picture, crop it and post! So simple, I’m embarrassed that I didn’t figure it out on my own. I’ll go ahead an blame that on my “pea-sized brain that is cluttered with the noise of children.”
Anyway, like I said above, I am finding some time to scrapbook, but since that time is much more reduced and sacred (thus having to be spent very wisely between blogging, scrapping, resting, GH-watching, blog hopping, etc) I seem to be gravitating toward simple, clean layouts. And I like them very much!
Here are some tips for making pages fast and keeping it simple…
1) Obviously, ‘not-much-to-it’ would be a good way to speed up scrapping… by that I mean not much going onto the page. Pictures, journaling, title, some patterned paper eye-candy is all a page needs in my opinion. Oh, and the date. Definitely needs that.
2) Handwriting my journaling has definitely made my page workflow quicker. We always think that typing is faster but I find that first writing my journaling in pencil then over in pen makes my process speed right on up…
When I first started scrapping about 7.5 years ago I did 8.5X11 pages, exclusively. Then after Gage was born I found that I had too many photos to be limited by this size, so upgraded to 12X12 and remained with that format until Kaden was born. I wanted to spice things up a bit, so I started using 12X12 D-Ring Scrapbooks in which I could use 12X12 AND 8.5X11 pages. I began one for Kaden and once my post bound albums for our family, Gage and Cooper filled up, I switched over to the D-Rings for those as well. And thanks to Myrna and her dreamy job, I stocked up on these albums for cheap!
I am really liking the versatility of these albums, but am still trying to get used to the gap that results between 2-page layouts.
3) In order to really speed up some of my scrapping, I’ve been choosing a layout sketch and applying it to several pages…
…I think I did all three of the above layouts in about an hour (which is about all the ‘free’ time I get in the day).
4) Another time saver is scrap-lifting. I am really NOT very creative when it comes to coming up with layout ideas. I have a binder full of sketch and layouts I like, and when I need inspiration based on the number of photos I have, I flip through it (or various websites like this one) and alter the layout/paper/embellishments to my liking. Usually, I have to ‘boy-it-up’ a little. This particular page was scrap-lifted from this one by Maggie Holmes.
5) I’ve also been using a lot of neutrals for my base page, and scraps of pattern paper for my accents. I haven’t shopped for scrapbook supplies in so long and I love it! I love that I’m using less and liking the results more. The following layout is a prime example of that…
I am probably more behind in my scrapping than I ever have been and I’m really trying to not let that stress me out. While you might think that blogging takes away time from scrapping, it actually kind of helps in the process because I don’t feel the need to scrapbook EVERY picture I take now that I can simply post them on here. In other words, I’m picking and choosing more wisely what photos I scrapbook… a great thing considering in the past 7.5 years, I’ve filled around 30 albums (not including mini-books).
At that rate, the boys will need U-Hauls to move just their personal scrapbooks when they fly the coop.
More to come on scrapping, I’m sure.
1 comments:
As you know, I don't scrapbook. But I sure like looking at yours!!! You are blessed with an artistic talent.
Lot of love...
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